No preference

She stepped through the creaking door and came into a small classroom. The room was off center, the board was there at the front but all the desks were turned and somehow the sourceless light was shining all pointing toward a figure sitting facing the corner of the room. A dunce cap sat tall on the figure’s head and dull hum of mumbling bounced out of the corner he was facing. She stood watching the figure as her heart pounded in her chest and every moaning floorboard beneath her sounded as loud as the silence in her head.

The dull thudding in her breast was rising as she took another step closer, or maybe the room was shrinking and she was being pulled closer, she couldn’t tell. Suddenly she was right against the figure’s back and reaching out to him with a shaking hand as the muttering grew louder and more consistent. The figure jerked suddenly making her pull back in fear but her curiosity drove her hand automatically back. Her hand touched his shoulder and he turned, snatching around with a speed so sudden and terrible that she fell to the floor. The sourceless light in the room drowned the figure so that his shadow rose tall and bent in the light that swallowed all of his features except his outline. 

Now he was reaching for her muttering nonsense so fast it all bled together in a strange tone and intonation that it could have been some ungodly song. He got closer and closer as he grabbed her shoulders pulling with a firm strength. He leaned in and suddenly his face melted into all the features of a normal person. She could see he had bedraggled hair beneath the cap and a look as if he needed some sleep but he was a normal person. She stared into his eyes, broken and dismayed but filled with a desperate focus. Then she looked at his mouth. “Nopr-ever-nice-noper-forensic-nopreference-no preference. No Preference.” 

He held the last “sss” out for what seemed a long time. He let her go gently and returned to his seat continuing to mutter. It was then she realized she was holding her breath and began to breathe again before standing and reading the scratching on the chalkboard. “No PREFERENCE”.